Names for India

"Bharata (term)" redirects here. For other uses of "Bharata", see Bharata (disambiguation).

The geographic region containing the Indian subcontinent

The Republic of India has two principal official short names, each of which is historically significant, India and Bhārat. A third name, Hindūstān, is also used commonly when Indians speak among themselves. The usage of "Bhārat", "Hindūstān", or "India" depends on the context and language of conversation.

The name "India" is originally derived from the name of the river Sindhu (Indus River) and has been in use in Greek since Herodotus (5th century BCE). The term appeared in Old English as early as the 9th century and reemerged in Modern English in the 17th century.

"Bhārat" is the shortened form of the term "Bhāratavarsha" which was first used in the first century AD in the Puranas. "Bhāratavarsha" is derived from the name of the Vedic community of Bharatas who are mentioned in the Rigveda as one of the principal kingdoms of the Aryavarta. It is also variously said to be derived from the name of either Dushyanta's son Bharata or Mahabharata.[1] At first the name Bhāratavarsha referred only to the western part of the Gangetic Valley,[2][3] but was later more broadly applied to the Indian subcontinent and the region of Greater India. In 1949, it was adopted as an official name for the Republic of India by the Constituent Assembly along with "India".

"Hindūstān" is another common name for the Republic of India and is also derived from the name of the river Sindhu. It had been in Persian usage since at least the 3rd century AD, while it's earlier form "Hindush" was used as early as 6th century BC. The term Hindustan was introduced within India in the 11th century and became the common name for the northern Indian subcontinent in Indian languages. The term 'Hindu' was the Old Persian adaption of "Sindhu" (Indus River). "Hindustan" is still commonly used in the subcontinent to refer to the modern day Republic of India by Hindustani speakers.

India[edit]

Further information: India (Herodotus)
India was the lower Indus basin in Herodotus's view of the world.

The English term is from Greek Ἰνδική / Indikē (cf. Megasthenes' work Indica) or Indía (Ἰνδία), via Latin transliteration India.[4][5][6]

The name derives ultimately from Sanskrit Sindhu (सिन्धु), which was the name of the Indus River as well as the lower Indus basin (modern Sindh, in Pakistan).[7][8] The Old Persian equivalent of Síndhu was Hindu.[9] Darius I conquered Sindh in about 516 BCE, upon which the Persian equivalent Hinduš was used for the province at the lower Indus basin.[10][11] Scylax of Caryanda who explored the Indus river for the Persian emperor probably took over the Persian name and passed it into Greek.[12] The terms Indos (Ἰνδός) for the Indus river as well as "an Indian" are found in Herodotus's Geography.[13] The loss of the aspirate /h/ was probably due to the dialects of Greek spoken in Asia Minor.[14][15] Herodotus also generalised the term "Indian" from the people of lower Indus basin, to all the people living to the east of Persia, even though he had no knowledge of the geography of the land.[16]

By the time of Alexander, Indía in Koine Greek denoted the region beyond the Indus. Alexander's companions were aware of at least India up to the Ganges delta (Gangaridai).[17][18] Later, Megasthenes included in India the southern peninsula as well.[18]

Latin India is used by Lucian (2nd century CE).[citation needed] India was known in Old English language and was used in King Alfred's translation of Paulus Orosius. In Middle English, the name was, under French influence, replaced by Ynde or Inde, which entered Early Modern English as "Indie". The name "India" then came back to English usage from the 17th century onward, and may be due to the influence of Latin, or Spanish or Portuguese.[citation needed]

Sanskrit indu "drop (of Soma)", also a term for the Moon, is unrelated, but has sometimes been erroneously connected.[citation needed]

Hind / Hindūstān[edit]

Main article: Hindustan
𓉔𓈖𓂧𓍯𓇌
H-n-d-wꜢ-y
"India" written in Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Statue of Darius I, circa 500 BCE.[19]

The words Hindū (Persian: هندو) and Hind (Persian: هند) came from Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit Sindhu (the Indus River or its region). The Achaemenid emperor Darius I conquered the Indus valley in about 516 BCE, upon which the Achaemenid equivalent of Sindhu, viz., "Hindush" (𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁, H-i-du-u-š) was used for the lower Indus basin.[10][11] The name was also known as far as the Achaemenid province of Egypt where it was written 𓉔𓈖𓂧𓍯𓇌 (H-n-d-wꜣ-y) on the Statue of Darius I, circa 500 BCE.[19][20][21]

The name "al-Hind" (here بالهند Bil'Hind, "In India") on an Umayyad coin minted in India, from the time of the first Governor of Sindh Muhammad ibn Qasim in 715 CE.[a]

In middle Persian, probably from the first century CE, the suffix -stān (Persian: ستان) was added, indicative of a country or region, forming the name Hindūstān.[22] Thus, Sindh was referred to as Hindūstān in the Naqsh-e-Rustam inscription of Sassanid emperor Shapur I in c. 262 CE.[23][24]

Emperor Babur of the Mughal Empire said, "On the East, the South, and the West it is bounded by the Great Ocean."[25] Hind was notably adapted in the Arabic language as the definitive form Al-Hind (الهند) for India, e.g. in the 11th century Tarikh Al-Hind ('History of India'). It occurs intermittently in usage within India, such as in the phrase Jai Hind (Hindi: जय हिन्द) or in Hind Mahāsāgar (हिन्द महासागर), the Standard Hindi name for the Indian Ocean.

Both the names were current in Persian and Arabic, and from that into northern Indian languages, from the 11th century Islamic conquests: the rulers in the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal periods called their Indian dominion, centered around Delhi, "Hindustan" (ہندوستان; हिन्दुस्तान). In contemporary Persian and Hindi-Urdu, the term Hindustan has recently come to mean the Republic of India. The same is the case with Arabic, where al-Hind is the name for the Republic of India.

"Hindustan", as the term Hindu itself, entered the English language in the 17th century. In the 19th century, the term as used in English referred to the Subcontinent. "Hindustan" was in use simultaneously with "India" during the British era.

Bhārata[edit]

Bhārata (Sanskrit: भारतम् Hindi: भारत, romanized: Bhārat, Urdu: بھارت, see schwa deletion), in its accusative singular form of Bhāratam, was chosen as the name for India in its Sanskrit version of the Constitution of India. However, in Article 1 of the Constitution, adopted in 1950,[26] Bhārat, which was predominantly used in Hindi, was adopted as a self-ascribed alternative name by some people of the Indian subcontinent and the Republic of India.[27]

Bhārata is derived from the name of the Vedic community Bharatas, who are mentioned in the Rigveda as one of the original community of the Āryāvarta and notably participating in the Battle of the Ten Kings.

The designation Bhārata appears in the official Sanskrit name of the country, Bhārata Gaṇarājya. The name is derived from the ancient Hindu Puranas, which refer to the land that comprises India as Bhāratavarṣa and uses this term to distinguish it from other varṣas or continents.[28] For example, the Vayu Purana says "he who conquers the whole of Bhāratavarṣa is celebrated as a samrāta (Vayu Purana 45, 86)."[29]

The Sanskrit word Bhārata is a vṛddhi derivation of Bharata, which was originally an epithet of Agni. The term is a verbal noun of the Sanskrit root bhr-, "to bear/to carry", with a literal meaning of to be maintained (of fire). The root bhr is cognate with the English verb to bear and Latin ferō. This term also means "one who is engaged in search for knowledge". Barato, the Esperanto name for India, is also a derivation of Bhārata.

According to the Puranas, this country is known as Bhāratavarṣa after Bharata, the son of Rishabha. He is described to be a Kshatriya born in the Solar dynasty. (Reference -Champat Rai Jain 1929, p. 92). This has been mentioned in Vishnu Purana (2,1,31), Vayu Purana (33,52), Linga Purana (1,47,23), Brahmanda Purana (14,5,62), Agni Purana (107,11–12), Skanda Purana, Khanda (37,57) and Markandaya Purana (50,41), all using the designation Bhāratavarṣa.

The Vishnu Purana mentions:

ऋषभो मरुदेव्याश्च ऋषभात् भरतो भवेत्।
भरताद् भारतं वर्षं, भरतात् सुमतिस्त्वभूत्॥
Rishabha was born to Marudevi, Bharata was born to Rishabha,
Bhāratavarṣa arose from Bharata and Sumati arose from Bharata.
—Vishnu Purana (2,1,31)


The Bhagavata Purana mentions (Canto 5, Chapter 4)[30] - "He (Rishabha) begot a hundred sons that were exactly like him... He (Bharata) had the best qualities and it was because of him that this land by the people is called Bhāratavarṣa"

Bharata Khanda (or Bhārata Kṣetra [31]) is a term used in some of the Hindu texts.

In the Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata (200 BCE to 300 CE), a larger region of North India is encompassed by the term Bharata, but much of the Deccan and South India are still excluded.[32] Some other Puranic passages refer to the same Bhārata people, who are described as the descendants of Dushyanta's son Bharata in the Mahabharata.[33]

The realm of Bharata is known as Bhāratavarṣa in the Mahabharata (the core portion of which is itself known as Bhārata) and later texts. According to the text, the term Bharat is from the king Bharata, who was the son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala and the term varsa means a division of the earth or a continent.[citation needed]

The use of Bharat often has political overtones, appealing to a certain cultural conception of India.[34] CNN reported in 2023 of president Droupadi Murmu and prime minister Narendra Modi using the Bharat name in connection with a G20 gathering, speculating on a possible name change for the country.[35]

Epigraphical References of the term Bharata[edit]

The earliest recorded use of Bhārata-varṣa (lit. 'Bhārata mainland') in a geographical sense is in the Hathigumpha inscription of King Kharavela (first century BCE), where it applies only to a restrained area of northern India, namely the part of the Ganges west of Magadha.[2][3]

Jambudvīpa[edit]

The name Jambudīpasi for "India" (Brahmi script) in the Sahasram Minor Rock Edict of Ashoka, circa 250 BCE.[36]

Jambudvīpa (Sanskrit: जम्बुद्वीप, romanized: Jambu-dvīpa, lit. 'berry island') was used in ancient scriptures as a name of India before the term Bhārata became widespread. It might be an indirect reference to the Insular India. The derivative Jambu Dwipa was the historical term for India in many Southeast Asian countries before the introduction of the English word "India". This alternate name is still used occasionally in Thailand, Malaysia, Java and Bali to describe the Indian Subcontinent. However, it also can refer to the whole continent of Asia.

Gyagar and Phagyul[edit]

Both Gyagar ("White expanse", analogous to the names Gyanak for China and Gyaser for Russia) and Phagyul are Tibetan names for India. Ancient Tibetan Buddhist authors and pilgrims used the ethnogeographic referents Gyagar or Gyagar to the south and Madhyadesa (central land or holy centre) for India. Since at least 13th century, several influential indigenous Tibetan lamas & authors also started to refer to India as the Phagyul, short for Phags yul, meaning the land of aryas i.e. land of noble, holy, enlightened & superior people who are the source of spiritual enlightenment.[37] Tibetan scholar Gendun Chopel explains that Tibetan word gyagar comes from the Indian sanskrit language word vihāra (buddhist monastery), and the ancient Tibetans applied the term Geysar mainly to the northern and central India region from Kuru (modern Haryana) to Magadha (modern Bihar).[38] The Epic of King Gesar, which originally developed around 200 BCE or 300 BCE and about 600 CE, describes India as the "Gyagar: The Kingdom of Buddhist Doctrine", "Gyagar: The Kingdom of Aru Medicine" (ayurveda), "Gyagar: The Kingdom of Pearls" and "Gyagar: The Kingdom of Golden Vases".[39] The Central Tibetan Administration, often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, asserts "Tibet is inextricably linked to India through geography, history, culture, and spiritually, Tibetans refer to India as ‘Gyagar Phagpay Yul’ or ‘India the land of Aryas.’" Dalai Lama reveres India as the guru with Tibet as its chela (shishya or disciple) and "refers to himself the ‘Son of India’ and a true follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He continues to advocate the revival of India's ancient wisdom based on the Nalanda tradition."[40]

Tianzhu[edit]

Main article: Tianzhu (India)

Tiānzhú (Chinese: 天竺 originally pronounced *qʰl'iːn tuɡ) is one of several Chinese transliterations of the Sanskrit Sindhu via Persian Hindu[41] and is used since ancient times in China and its peripheries. Its Sino-Xenic reading in Japanese is Tenjiku, and Cheonchuk (Hangul: 천축) in Korean. Devout Buddhists in the Sinosphere traditionally used this term and its related forms to designate India as their "heavenly centre", referring to the sacred origins of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent.[42][43]

Other forms include Juāndú (身毒), which appears in Sima Qian's Shiji. Another is Tiāndǔ (天篤), which is used in the Hou Hanshu (Book of the Later Han).[44] Yìntèjiā or Indəkka (印特伽) comes from the Kuchean Indaka, another transliteration of Hindu.[41]

A detailed account of Tianzhu is given in the "Xiyu Zhuan" (Record of the Western Regions) in the Hou Hanshu compiled by Fan Ye (398–445):

"The state of Tianzhu: Also named Shendu, it lies several thousand li southeast of Yuezhi. Its customs are the same as those of Yuezhi, and it is low, damp, and very hot. It borders a large river. The inhabitants ride on elephants in warfare; they are weaker than the Yuezhi. They practise the way of Futu (the Buddha), [and therefore] it has become a custom among them not to kill or attack [others]. From west of the states Yuezhi and Gaofu, and south until the Western Sea, and east until the state of Panqi, all is the territory of Shendu. Shendu has several hundred separate towns, with a governor, and separate states which can be numbered in the tens, each with its own king. Although there are small differences among them, they all come under the general name of Shendu, and at this time all are subject to Yuezhi. Yuezhi have killed their kings and established a general in order to rule over their people. The land produces elephants, rhinoceros, tortoise shell, gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin. It communicates to the west with Da Qin and (so) has the exotica of Da Qin."[44]

Tianzhu was also referred to as Wǔtiānzhú (五天竺, literally "Five Indias"), because there were five geographical regions in India known to the Chinese: Central, Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern India. The monk Xuanzang also referred to India as Wǔ Yìn or "Five Inds".[41]

The name Tianzhu and its Sino-Xenic cognates were eventually replaced by terms derived from the Middle Chinese borrowing of *yentu from Kuchean, though a very long time elapsed between that term's first use and its becoming the standard modern name for India in East Asian languages. Pronounced Yìndù (Chinese: 印度) in Chinese, it was first used by the seventh-century monk and traveler Xuanzang.[45] In Japanese for example, the name Indo (インド, 印度, or occasionally 印土) had been found occasionally in 18th and early 19th-century works, such as Arai Hakuseki's Sairan Igen (1713) and Yamamura Saisuke [ja]'s Indoshi (印度志, a translation of a work by Johann Hübner). However, the use of the name Tenjiku, which was heavily associated with the image of India as a land of Buddhism, was not completely displaced until the early 20th century: scholars such as Soyen Shaku and Seki Seisetsu [ja] who travelled to India for pilgrimages to Buddhist historical sites, continued to use the name Tenjiku to emphasise the religious aspect of their travels, though most of their contemporaries (even fellow Buddhist pilgrims) adopted the name Indo by then.[46][47]

India is nowadays also called Indo in Korean (인도), and Ấn Độ in Vietnamese. Similar to Hindu and Sindhu, the term Yìn 印 was used in classical Chinese much like the English Ind.

Hodu[edit]

Hodu (Hebrew: הֹדּוּ Hodû) is the Biblical Hebrew name for India mentioned in the Book of Esther part of the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament. In Esther, 1:1 and 8:9,[48] Ahasuerus had been described as King ruling 127 provinces from Hodu (India) to Ethiopia.[49] The term seemingly derives from Sanskrit Sindhu, "great river", i.e., the Indus River, via Old Persian Hiñd°u.[50] It is thus cognate with the term India.

Historical Names of India[edit]

Some historical definitions prior to 1500 are presented below.[51]

Year Name Source Definition
c. 440 BCE India Herodotus "Eastward of India lies a tract which is entirely sand. Indeed, of all the inhabitants of Asia, concerning whom anything is known, the Indians dwell nearest to the east and the rising of the Sun."
c.400-300 BCE Hodu Book of Esther (Bible) "Now it took place in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from Hodu (India) to Cush (Ethiopia) over 127 provinces"[52][53][54]
c. 300 BCE India/Indikē Megasthenes "India then being four-sided in plan, the side which looks to the Orient and that to the South, the Great Sea compasseth; that towards the Arctic is divided by the mountain chain of Hēmōdus from Scythia, inhabited by that tribe of Scythians who are called Sakai; and on the fourth side, turned towards the West, the Indus marks the boundary, the biggest or nearly so of all rivers after the Nile."
200 BCE Jambudvipa Chanakya
Arthashastra 		"This (Brahmaputra) is the eastern boundary of Jambudvipa, its western boundary being the mouths of the Indus and its southern boundary being the Indian Ocean or Rama Sethu."[55]
Between first century BCE[56] and Ninth century CE[57][58] Bhāratavarṣa (realm of Bhārata)[59][60][61] Vishnu Purana "उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् ।

वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।"
i.e. "The country (varṣam) that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhāratam; there dwell the descendants of Bharata."

100 CE or later Bhāratam Vishnu Purana "उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम् ।

वर्षं तद् भारतं नाम भारती यत्र संततिः ।।"
i.e. "The country (varṣam) that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bhāratam; there dwell the descendants of Bharata."

c. 140. Indoi, Indou Arrian "The boundary of the land of India towards the north is Mount Taurus. It is not still called Taurus in this land; but Taurus begins from the sea over against Pamphylia and Lycia and Cilicia; and reaches as far as the Eastern Ocean, running right across Asia. But the mountain has different names in different places; in one, Parapamisus, in another Hemodus; elsewhere it is called Imaon and perhaps has all sorts of other names; but the Macedonians who fought with Alexander called it Caucasus; another Caucasus, that is, not the Scythian; so that the story ran that Alexander came even to the far side of the Caucasus. The western part of India is bounded by the river Indus right down to the ocean, where the river runs out by two mouths, not joined as are the five mouths of the Ister; but like those of the Nile, by which the Egyptian delta is formed; thus also the Indian delta is formed by the river Indus, not less than the Egyptian; and this in the Indian tongue is called Pattala. Towards the south this ocean bounds the land of India, and eastward the sea itself is the boundary. The southern part near Pattala and the mouths of the Indus were surveyed by Alexander and Macedonians and many Greeks; as for the eastern part, Alexander did not traverse this beyond the river Hyphasis. A few historians have described the parts which are this side of the Ganges and where are the mouths of the Ganges and the city of Palimbothra, the greatest Indian city on the Ganges.(...) The Indian rivers are greater than any others in Asia; greatest are the Ganges and the Indus, whence the land gets its name; each of these is greater than the Nile of Egypt and the Scythian Ister, even were these put together; my own idea is that even the Acesines is greater than the Ister and the Nile, where the Acesines having taken in the Hydaspes, Hydraotes, and Hyphasis, runs into the Indus, so that its breadth there becomes thirty stades. Possibly also other greater rivers run through the land of India."
c. 650 Five Indies Xuanzang "The circumference of 五印 (Modern Chinese: Wǔ Yìn, the Five Indies) is about 90,000 li; on three sides it is bounded by a great sea; on the north it is backed by snowy mountains. It is wide at the north and narrow at the south; its figure is that of a half-moon."
c. 950. Hind Istakhri "As for the land of the Hind it is bounded on the East by the Persian Sea (i.e. the Indian Ocean), on the W. and S. by the countries of Islām and on the N. by the Chinese Empire... The length of the land of the Hind from the government of Mokrān, the country of Mansūra and Bodha and the rest of Sind, till thou comest to Kannauj and thence passest on to Tibet, is about 4 months and its breadth from the Indian Ocean to the country of Kannūj about three months."
c. 1020 Hind Al-Biruni "Hind is surrounded on the East by Chín and Máchín, on the West by Sind (Baluchistan) and Kábul and on the South by the Sea."
Hindustan John Richardson, A Smaller Manual of Modern Geography. Physical and Political "The boundaries of Hindustan are marked on every side by natural features; e.g., the Himalayas, on the N.; the Patkoi Mountains, Tippera Hills, &c., on the N.E.; the Sea, on the E., S., and W.; and the Hala, and Sulaiman Mountains, on the N.W."[62]

Historical definitions of a Greater India[edit]

Writers throughout history, both Indian and of other nationalities have written about a 'Greater India', which Indians have called either Akhand Bharat or Mahabharata.[63]

Year Name Source Definition
944 Al-Hind Al-Masudi
Muruj adh-dhahab wa ma'adin al-jawhar 		"The Hindu nation (Al-Hind) extends from the mountains of Khorasan (Afghanistan) and of es-Sind (Baluchistan) as far as et-Tubbet (Tibetan Plateau.)"[64]
1205 Hind Hasan Nizāmī "The whole country of Hind, from Peshawar in the north, to the Indian Ocean in the south; from Sehwan (on the west bank of the Indus) to the mountains on the east dividing from China."
1298 India the Greater
India the Minor
Middle India 		Marco Polo "India the Greater is that which extends from Maabar to Kesmacoran (i.e. from Coromandel to Mekran) and it contains 13 great kingdoms... India the Lesser extends from the Province of Champa to Mutfili (i.e. from Cochinchina to the Krishna Delta) and contains 8 great Kingdoms... Abash(Abyssinia) is a very great province and you must know that it constitutes the Middle India."
c. 1328. India Friar Jordanus Catalani "What shall I say? The greatness of this India is beyond description. But let this much suffice concerning India the Greater and the Less. Of India Tertia I will say this, that I have not indeed seen its many marvels, not having been there..."
1404 India Minor Ruy González de Clavijo "And this same Thursday that the said Ambassadors arrived at this great River (the Oxus) they crossed to the other side. And the same day... came in the evening to a great city which is called Tenmit (Termez) and this used to belong to India Minor, but now belongs to the empire of Samarkand, having been conquered by Tamurbec."
16th century Indostān Ignazio Danti "The part of India beyond the Ganges extends in length as far as Cathay (China) and contains many provinces in which are found many notable things. As in the Kingdom of Kamul near Campichu (Cambodia)...And in Erguiul...In the Ava Mountains (Burma)..., and in the Salgatgu mountains...In Caindu...In the territory of Carajan..."[65]
982-983 Hindistān Author Unknown
Hudud al-'Alam 		"East of it (Hindistān) are the countries of China and Tibet; South of it, the Great Sea; west of it, the river Mihran (Indus); north of it, the country of Shaknan belonging to Vakhan and some parts of Tibet."[66]
1590 Hindustān Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak
Ain-i-Akbari 		"Hindustan is described as enclosed on the east, west and south by the ocean, but Sarandip (Sri Lanka), Achin (Indonesia), Maluk (Indonesia) and Malagha (Malaysia) and a considerable number of islands are accounted for within its extent."[67]

Republic of India[edit]

The name and logo of state-owned Petroleum Companies of Government of India.
See also: Names of India in its official languages

The official names as set down in article 1 of the Indian constitution are:

Hindi: भारत (Bhārat)
English: India

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ بالهند Bil'Hind appears upside-down at 6h (bottom) on the circular legend of the obverse side of the coin. The complete circular legend is "In the name of Allah, struck this dirham in al-Hind in the year seven and ninety."

References[edit]

  1. ^ Roshen Dalal (2010). The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths. Penguin Books India. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-14-341517-6.
  2. ^ a b Dwijendra Narayan Jha, Rethinking Hindu Identity (Routledge: 2014), p.11
  3. ^ a b Upinder Singh, Political Violence in Ancient India, p.253
  4. ^ Harris, J. (2012), Indography: Writing the "Indian" in Early Modern England, Palgrave Macmillan US, p. 8, ISBN 978-1-137-09076-8
  5. ^ Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath (2001), Nationhood and Statehood in India: A historical survey, Regency Publications, p. 3, ISBN 978-81-87498-26-1: "Apparently the same territory was referred to as Hi(n)du(sh) in the Naqsh‐i‐Rustam inscription of Darius I as one of the countries in his empire. The terms Hindu and India ('Indoi) indicate an original indigenous expression like Sindhu. The name Sindhu could have been pronounced by the Persians as Hindu (replacing s by h and dh by d) and the Greeks would have transformed the latter as Indo‐ (Indoi, Latin Indica, India) with h dropped..."
  6. ^ "Etymology of the Name India". World History Encyclopedia. 13 January 2011.
  7. ^ Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath (2001), Nationhood and Statehood in India: A historical survey, Regency Publications, p. 3, ISBN 978-81-87498-26-1: "In early Indian sources Sindhu denoted the mighty Indus river and also a territory on the lower Indus."
  8. ^ Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan (1975), p. 145: "Sindhu means a stream, a river, and in particular the Indus river, but likewise it denotes the territory of the lower Indus valley, or modern Sind. Therefore, the appellation Saindhavah, means "inhabitants of the lower Indus valley".... In this respect Sindhu is no tribal name at all. It denotes a geographical unit to which different tribes may belong."
  9. ^ Thieme, P. (1970), "Sanskrit sindu-/Sindhu- and Old Iranian hindu-/Hindu-", in Mary Boyce; Ilya Gershevitch (eds.), W. B. Henning memorial volume, Lund Humphries, pp. 447–450, ISBN 9780853312550
  10. ^ a b Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan (1975): 'The Persians coined the name of Hindush after the current Sanskrit geographical name of Sindhu. Neither the Old Persian inscriptions, nor the Avesta make use of the word hindu in the sense of "river".'
  11. ^ a b Dandamaev, M. A. (1989), A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire, BRILL, p. 147, ISBN 90-04-09172-6: "The new satrapy, which received the name of Hindush, extended from the centre to the lower part of the Indus Valley, in present-day Pakistan."
  12. ^ Mouton, Alice; Rutherford, Ian; Yakubovich, Ilya (2013), Luwian Identities: Culture, Language and Religion Between Anatolia and the Aegean, BRILL, ISBN 978-90-04-25341-4
  13. ^ Herodotus, with an English Translation by A. D. Godley, Volume II, London: William Heinemann, 1921, III.97–99
  14. ^ Horrocks, Geoffrey (2009), Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers (Second ed.), John Wiley & Sons, pp. 27–28, ISBN 978-1-4443-1892-0: "Note finally that the letter H/η was originally used to mark word-initial aspiration... Since such aspiration was lost very early in the eastern Ionic-speaking area, the letter was recycled, being used first to denote the new, very open, long e-vowel [æ:] ... and then to represent the inherited long e-vowel [ε:] too, once these two sounds had merged. The use of H to represent open long e-vowels spread quite early to the central Ionic-speaking area and also to the Doric-speaking islands of the southern Aegean, where it doubled up both as the marker of aspiration and as a symbol for open long e-vowels."
  15. ^ Panayotou, A. (2007), "Ionic and Attic", in A.-F. Christidis (ed.), A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, p. 410, ISBN 978-0-521-83307-3: "The early loss of aspiration is mainly a characteristic of Asia Minor (and also of the Aeolic and Doric of Asia Minor)...In Attica, however (and in some cases in Euboea, its colonies, and in the Ionic-speaking islands of the Aegean), the aspiration survived until later... During the second half of the fifth century BC, however, orthographic variation perhaps indicates that 'a change in the phonetic quality of [h] was taking place' too."
  16. ^ Arora, Udai Prakash (2005), "Ideas of India in Ancient Greek Literature", in Irfan Habib (ed.), India — Studies in the History of an Idea, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, p. 47, ISBN 978-81-215-1152-0: "The term 'Indians' was used by Herodotus as a collective name for all the peoples living east of Persia. This was also a significant development over Hekataios, who had used this term in a strict sense for the groups dwelling in Sindh only."
  17. ^ Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan (1975), pp. 13–14
  18. ^ a b Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath (2001), Nationhood and Statehood in India: A historical survey, Regency Publications, pp. 3–4, ISBN 978-81-87498-26-1
  19. ^ a b National Museum of Iran notice
  20. ^ Yar-Shater, Ehsan (1982). Encyclopaedia Iranica. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 10. ISBN 9780933273955.
  21. ^ "Susa, Statue of Darius – Livius". www.livius.org.
  22. ^ Habib, Irfan (2011), "Hindi/Hindwī in Medieval Times", in Aniruddha Ray (ed.), The Varied Facets of History: Essays in Honour of Aniruddha Ray, Primus Books, p. 105, ISBN 978-93-80607-16-0
  23. ^ Mukherjee, Bratindra Nath (1989), The Foreign Names of the Indian Subcontinent, Place Names Society of India, p. 46: "The term Hindustan, which in the Naqsh-i-Rustam inscription of Shapur I denoted India on the lower Indus, and which later gradually began to denote more or less the whole of the subcontinent..."
  24. ^ Ray & Chattopadhyaya, A Sourcebook of Indian Civilization (2000), p. 553: "Among the countries that fell before Shapur I the area in question appears as Hndstn, India and Hindy respectively in the three languages mentioned above [Middle Persian, Greek and Parthian]."
  25. ^ P. 310 Memoirs of Zahir-ad-Din Muhammad Babur: Emperor of Hindustan By Babur (Emperor of Hindustan)
  26. ^ Clémentin-Ojha, Catherine (2014). "'India, that is Bharat…': One Country, Two Names". South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal. 10.
  27. ^ Article 1 of the English version of the Constitution of India: "India that is Bharat shall be a Union of States."
  28. ^ Pargiter, F. F. (1922), Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p. 131
  29. ^ Pargiter, F. F. (1922), Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, pp. ff. 8 p. 40
  30. ^ "S'RÎMAD BHÂGAVATAM : "The Story of the Fortunate One" : Third revised version 2012". Ia801005.us.archive.org. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  31. ^ Dikshitar, Ramachandra (1 January 1993). The Gupta Polity. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 9788120810242.
  32. ^ D.N. Jha (2014), p.11
  33. ^ Dineschandra Sircar (1971). Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 3. ISBN 978-81-208-0690-0.
  34. ^ "How Hindu is India's foreign policy?". The Economist. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  35. ^ Singh, Akanksha (20 September 2023). "Opinion: It's not just about its colonial past. Here's what India's possible name change is all about". CNN. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  36. ^ Inscriptions of Asoka. New Edition by E. Hultzsch (in Sanskrit). 1925. pp. 169–171.
  37. ^ Toni Huber, 2008, The Holy Land Reborn: Pilgrimage and the Tibetan Reinvention, University of Chicago Press, p.74-80.
  38. ^ Gendun Chopel (translated by Thupten Jinpa and Donald S. Lopez Jr.), 2014, Grains of Gold: Tales of a Cosmopolitan Traveler, University of Chicago Press, p.73-74.
  39. ^ Jianbian Joacuo (translated by Liang Yanjun, Wu Chunxiao and Song Xin), 2019, 降边嘉措著, ‎梁艳君, ‎吴春晓 A study of Tibetan epic Gesar, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China.
  40. ^ Thank you India, Central Tibetan Administration, published: Jan 2018, accessed: 19 Dec 2022.
  41. ^ a b c Cheung, Martha Pui Yiu (2014) [2006]. "Zan Ning (919–1001 CE), To Translate Means to Exchange". An Anthology of Chinese Discourse on Translation: From Earliest Times to the Buddhist Project. Routledge. pp. 179, 181. ISBN 978-1-317-63928-2.
  42. ^ An Invitation to Indian Architecture
  43. ^ How the Japan-India alliance could redraw the political map
  44. ^ a b Yu, Taishan (November 2013). "China and the Ancient Mediterranean World: A Survey of Ancient Chinese Sources" (PDF). Sino-Platonic Papers (242): 73, 77.
  45. ^ Khair, Tabish (2006). Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel Writing. Signal Books. p. 36. ISBN 9781904955115.
  46. ^ Rambelli, Fabio (2014). "The Idea of India (Tenjiku) in Pre-Modern Japan". In Sen, -Tansen (ed.). Buddhism Across Asia. ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. p. 262. ISBN 9789814519328.
  47. ^ Jaffee, Richard M. (2019). Seeking Sakyamuni: South Asia in the Formation of Modern Japanese Buddhism. University of Chicago Press. pp. 12–13, 114–115. ISBN 9780226391151.
  48. ^ Esther 1:1 and 8:9
  49. ^ "THE BOOK OF ESTHER". Uskojaelama.net. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  50. ^ Brown–Driver–Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon at BibleHub
  51. ^ "Hobson-Jobson". Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  52. ^ "Esther 1:1 This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush". Biblehub.com. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  53. ^ "The Book of Esther - Kids Version". Hanefesh Community. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  54. ^ "TARNEGOL HODU, A BIRD CALLED TURKEY". 26 October 2015. Hodu is the biblical name for India (Esther 1:1), which is derived from the Persian word Hindu, a name for the region around the Indus River
  55. ^ P. 247 Chanakya and Chandragupta By A. S. Panchapakesa Ayyar
  56. ^ Wilson, H. H. (2006). The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition. Cambridge: Read Country Books. p. xii. ISBN 1-84664-664-2.
  57. ^ Rocher 1986, p. 249.
  58. ^ Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 111. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
  59. ^ A History of Civilization in Ancient India, Based on Sanskrit Literature. In Three Volumes. Volume 3. Buddhist and Pauranik Ages, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Publisher Elibron.com, ISBN 0-543-92939-6, ISBN 978-0-543-92939-6
  60. ^ A Text Book of Social Sciences, Dr. N.N. Kher & Jaideep Aggarwal, Pitambar Publishing, ISBN 81-209-1466-X, ISBN 978-81-209-1466-7
  61. ^ VISHŃU PURÁŃA, BOOK II, CHAP. I, The Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840], at sacred-texts.com
  62. ^ P. 146 A smaller manual of modern geography. Physical and political By John Richardson (Vicar of St. Mary's Hospital, Ilford.)
  63. ^ P. 45 Calcutta Review By University of Calcutta, 1950
  64. ^ P. 177 Kitab Muruj Al-dahab Al-Masudi. El-Masudis Historical Encyclopaedia By 'Abu-l-Hasan 'Ali ibn al-Husain al-Masudi
  65. ^ P. 3 The Mapping of Power in Renaissance Italy By Mark Rosen
  66. ^ P. 187 Journal of Ancient Indian History, Volume 9 By D.C. Sircar
  67. ^ The Ain i Akbari, Volume 3 By Abū al-Faz̤l ibn Mubārak

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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